


5am, East Kou Standard Time

by orphan_account



Category: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-07
Updated: 2015-06-07
Packaged: 2018-04-03 06:57:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4091308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Contentedness is hard to come by for Hakuryuu</p>
            </blockquote>





	5am, East Kou Standard Time

**Author's Note:**

> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ im well aware nowhere in fuckin magi is gonna have standard time like we do but the point is idc, the title is a bit of a joke and i feel like it fits. another got dam nightmare fic that i finished at 4am. its like 1k of pure gay. go away

The older Hakuryuu gets, the more infrequent and less intense the fire dreams get.

That isn’t to say they go away, or are as less traumatizing, or that equally horrifying yet different nightmares don’t replace them. But as time goes on, his nighttime memory becomes more and more obscured.

At some point he doesn’t quite know when, he becomes more and more of distant spectator, unable to help or look away or touch while the flames burn him all the same. And while he never sees her, he can feel the sorry imitation of his mother watching on impassively as he struggles against nothing.

It burns and burns and burns and Hakuryuu can’t feel a thing. Like even his brain in its blurry haze of sleep can recognize that he’s not there anymore, there’s no longer a chance to save them, and yet the tape still replays.

This time, when he wakes up from a similar nightmare, it’s to a cool hand placed delicately on his cheek and worried red eyes. Hakuryuu thinks, for a blind second between wakefulness and sleep, of the surreal quality of the other’s eyes. As though, like the person they belonged to, they were stolen from a sacred place filled with treasures of immeasurable value. Before the thought could fully form in his head, Judal speaks.

“Same dream?” He asks, knowing full well after all this time of the thoughts and dreams and nightmares that plague Hakuryuu’s mind. Breath only shuddering slightly, Hakuryuu closes his eyes again and nods.

“Almost… I don’t know.” Hakuryuu knows Judal will probably still understand even if he doesn’t elaborate, but he continues, “It feels like a different dream every time I have it. Something’s always off or… different.”

For a second, Hakuryuu nearly shrinks away from the way Judal studies his face with an unreadable expression, but calms down after the other gives him a sympathizing look and shifts so his body is closer to Hakuryuu’s. The hand that was cupping his unscarred cheek traces itself down his face and undamaged arm, settling finally on Hakuryuu’s waist.

“You can always talk about them, you know. I’ll always listen, if you want me to. I want to listen to you, too.” He’s not sure if the relief from Judal’s words shows over his exhaustion, but he’s sure the warm sort of gratefulness that fills his chest can be felt anyway.

“Yeah… it’s fine, though, this time.” Disbelief and the same worry from before flashes across Judal’s face before he seems to accept that Hakuryuu means it. He pulls Hakuryuu closer to him, as if the few inches away from him were far too many, so their faces are merely centimeters apart.

Hakuryuu can hear the soft noise of Judal breathing out what almost sounds like a sigh. Burying his face in the side of Judal’s neck, he places lasting kisses down from his jaw to collar bone as the last dregs of his nightmare slip away.

When he finally looks back up to Judal’s face, his eyes have barely slipped shut and there’s a contented smile on his face. He continues stroking up and down Hakuryuu’s waist as he looks back down at him.

“No point in going back to sleep, huh,” Judal says lazily as he starts to sit up in the large, lavishly decorated bed in Hakuryuu’s room, carefully bringing said room owner up with him in the process.

“It’s nearly dawn… I could go make us some tea or whatever.” Hakuryuu hums noncommittally in response, pushing himself up with the stub of his left arm to bury himself back into Judal’s right side.

“No… I’d rather just stay here for a while, and I can make us breakfast later. And I know you’d rather not get up before the sun’s high in the sky anyway.” He doesn’t miss the way Judal’s eyes sparkle at the promise of Hakuryuu’s cooking (how he still gets excited at Hakuryuu cooking for him after all this time, he’ll never understand).

“That’s true,” Judal laughs, and Hakuryuu is struck for a second at the genuine joy on the others face, different than the usual happiness only ever brought on by destruction and misery of others. He feels that kind of happiness is more like a trick taught to him to show around to the rest of the world, to tell the general population he is terrifying, to say he knows they’re scared of him and he loves it. Whether he smiles like that to convince himself of it more than anyone else, Hakuryuu isn’t sure.

What Hakuryuu is sure of is that while all of Judal’s smiles are dazzling, this is the one he likes the most. He knows many of Judal’s smiles, from the ones he shows publicly to the ones only ever found late at night when everyone else is asleep, but this one is much different than those. Here he smiles with the remains of sleep from the night before evident on his face, looking at Hakuryuu like he’s the sunlight shining in from the window through curtains on their shared bed when the sun hasn’t even risen yet.

He isn’t sure what he ever did to earn such a smile from someone almost as private as himself, but he appreciates it as much as he can. He leans up to press his lips to Judal’s, kissing him languidly. He can feel a small smile spread onto his face as the others joy seems to infect him and fill every part of his body with a light fluttering.

“Judal,” He says into the skin of Judal’s jaw, caught up in the emotion and voice barely above a mummer, “I love you.”

Judal doesn’t respond for a while, but he knows he heard him by the way the arms that have made their way around his waist tighten and how he buries his face into Hakuryuu’s hair. They’re both aware of how rarely Hakuryuu is the one to say those three words first. He feels, more than hears, Judal’s mumbled ‘I love you too’ into his hair.

When the sun rises, he knows that with it he will have to rise into the role of the depraved fallen emperor who is contented with nothing but destroying everything his wrath sets its heart on to his people, with the corrupt magi by his side. But for now, with Judal’s arms around his waist and right hand resting over Judal’s heart, he is content.


End file.
